Known for making high quality baby carriages, strollers, high chairs, car seats, pedal and battery-powered riding vehicles and accessories, Peg Pérego built its legacy on a strong reputation -- and reputation is key, particularly when a large segment of your target is new to the category. By nature, first time parents need a lot of gear and thus are confronted with many purchasing decisions, requiring them to research a whole new set of brands. This is where Peg Pérego’s attention to quality comes in handy. Quality combined with consistent progress in research and development has helped the brand owners earn and maintain a loyal following for many years.

Appropriately enough, the Peg Pérego brand is a family business. Back in 1949, Giuseppe Pérego and his wife set out to make a special baby carriage for their son. When neighbors saw the attractive carriage adorned with colorful fabrics it became a coveted item, and they began clamoring for their very own Pérego model.

A commitment to product development and a flair for design were instrumental in growing the business. The early 1960s saw Peg Pérego introducing pedal-operated and rechargeable battery-powered children’s vehicles into the marketplace. By 60s end, the brand expanded into high chairs that could be raised and lowered, and grew its global presence by securing distribution systems.

Giuseppe Pérego’s vision remains today. “The brand issue is synonymous with the products,” says Ken Maxwell, vice president of marketing for Peg Pérego. “Ours is a family owned operation and their name is on the product, so they want to be proud of any product carrying their name.”

Today, Peg Pérego employs almost 1,500 people worldwide and has factory and office space in Italy, Germany, Canada and the United States. In recent years, the company acquired Martinelli, another esteemed Italian stroller brand. Martinelli came from similar provincial beginnings, starting out in the 30s as a small Italian boutique and becoming well known for making elegant, high-quality strollers. With both brands carrying their own special cachet, the marriage of Peg Pérego and Martinelli is certainly an appropriate union.

As a result, the Peg Pérego/Martinelli brand is part of the reason that Italian strollers are world renowned for being among the finest available on the market. “We are known as a substantial innovative company. Our products have a European look, a more sophisticated look. And I think that all things being equal, quality is an issue,” says Maxwell. “There are several levels on which our products perform, but there is also a distinctiveness about the product, an exclusiveness, that appeals to people.” Peg Pérego products can usually only be found in specialty stores -- a distribution strategy that helps lend an air of exclusivity.

Its foray into the exclusive children’s market doesn’t end at high-chairs and strollers. Peg Pérego has partnered with companies like John Deere to expand into the realm of children’s riding vehicles. The recently introduced John Deere Worksite Gator 4x2 is a battery-operated children’s ride-on vehicle, complete with dumping bed and tailgate. In one of these vehicles, affluent offspring can play construction and cruise around the yard at a top speed of five miles per hour. This move into a slightly older user helps groom early adopters into “long term” users.

The stroller market for the well-heeled and their spawn is extremely aggressive. With exotic brands like Bugaboo Frog introducing high-end rigs at high-end price points and gaining publicity in celebrity magazines, Peg Pérego has to bust out the big guns to keep from losing market share. The brand chooses to differentiate itself on its legacy of quality and reliability. “Overall, our products are our brand,” explains Maxwell. “When we develop a new product, the philosophy is that it’s going to be high quality and beautiful. The proof is in the pudding.”

Vivian Manning-Schaffel is a freelance writer.